A Daydream with a Catch

We’ve had the daydream of living abroad with our children for a long time. The appeal for us was obvious: get rid of all your stuff, live simply, enjoy new places and perspectives, be together and take each day as it comes. Sounds nice.

In fact, it sounds so nice that we decided to make it a reality and to do it in short order. After the initial euphoria that comes with such a big decision, we started to read up on and identify steps that need to happen to move our young family abroad. Very quickly we started to realize just how much work it was going to take to put our life on hold and step into the great unknown. As a small sample, consider this basic list from the last few months:

Research tourist visa for Ecuador

Research places to start

Research small cities or towns in Ecuador and pick top 3-5

Ensure all passports up to date

Determine big items to sell (gear, cars, electronics)

See what vaccinations we should get

Decide first steps and first phase

Set up next steps and book travel for Ecu exploration

Spanish lessons or courses for all of us

Get criminal reports, health certificates and ensure have birth and marriage certificates

Look into travel and health insurance

Set up seperate bank and CC acounts to provide options

Cancel all reoccurring bills, subscriptions

Figure out what we’re taking, selling and storing including one of our cars and expensive items like sports equipment, electronics, tools and furniture

Bo create plan for transition at work with document outlining suggestions

Jamie and Bo: I publish the Monitor Magazine in the Montrose, Ouray, Delta area. You might have seen it when we had Dave on the cover. Would you email me at mbenn909@yahoo.com.
I think our readers would really like to follow your trip. You can see the latest Monitors at themonitormagazine.com
Thanks, Mavis Bennett